** Updated ** October 28, 2003
I often talked about establishing traditions in my race report for New Liskeard and probably the most noticeable one was teammate turnover. Once again I was heading into a race looking for two teammates to fill out the roster. This was probably the quickest and easiest time finding teammates that I have ever had. I started by first trying to find a female teammate from the team finder database once again after having such good luck the year before. I quickly received a response from a rookie racer named Cindy Archer and somehow managed to convince her that joining our team was a good idea at that she would really enjoy the experience (okay so I am a guy, I lie that is what we do). I even joined her for a Salomon Adventure Challenge race in Bark Lake that she was getting a team together for just to calm any fears about racing with some idiots from Hornepayne and surprisingly she still wanted to race in Parry Sound. Next since Chris had completely reverted to a life of leisure and had agreed to act as our support crew along with his wife the lovely Pam (questionable judge of character though) we needed to find a fourth. I contacted a racer I had communicated with in the past and he put me in touch with a friend of his, Scott Piccolo. Scott was another rookie to 36 hour races so he fit in well and was eager to race (this is an important quality in a Max Payne teammate because it means they are not picky about who they are racing with). So it was off to the races to see how a group of mostly strangers would gel and if they would come together as a team.

Friday, May 30, 2003 raceday and the team meets each other for the first time at the gear check and despite a few minor glitches we got through that and prepared for the race briefing. It becomes obvious very early that if nothing else this team is going to have fun and enjoy the race whatever it brings. At the race briefing we learn that what it is going to bring is an epic paddle of approximately 45 kms heading north (and that fact would become very important) on Georgian Bay. This is also when we learn that our new teammates were hoping that this would not be a big paddling race as it is their least favourite discipline. So from here it was off to the hotel to prepare the maps and chose our route. It was here at the hotel that I realized that Chris was never going to race with us again after hearing Pam talk about how insane what we were about to attempt was.

It’s nearly midnight and the start of the race is upon us. We line up to start on bikes heading for the coast of Georgian Bay. We sprint off looking for a settler’s road that has long been abandoned to the glee of some very industrious beavers. After about an hour of carrying our bikes through waist deep water on a cool a rainy night we return to real roads and find our way to the bike drop and the first TA. We change over to paddle mode pretty quickly and head out onto the calm waters of the bay and start paddling. After a little while Cp3 appears in the distance through the darkness and we can see a couple teams heading off in the wrong direction. This is when I get the shock of my adventure racing life; we are in 10th position at Cp3. Everything is going amazingly well as we continue up towards Cp4, and after a short pit stop to drain water from our canoes we reach Cp4 still in 13th position. A funny thing happened as we were arriving at Cp4 though; out of nowhere a north wind appeared. Heeding the advice of Cp staff we immediately headed for the west side of the channel to try to avoid the affect of the wind.

The power of the wind was too great though and we were in the most exposed section of the course battling 50+ km/hour winds and at least 4-foot waves. Despite our best efforts Cindy and I could no longer keep the canoe pointed in the direction we wanted and were forced onto the shores of Anchor Island. Dave and Scott joined us there and immediately the strong winds, rain and cool temperatures started to chill the team. We were all cold but Cindy with her lack of natural insulation (she is not fat like Dave and I) was close to a full case of hypothermia. Dave made use of his misspent youth and quickly found us shelter inside of a not so secure cabin. From here we thought it would be a good idea to turn on the race radio to see if they were going to close the paddling section of the course and to let them know where we are if they were curious. Well this is where things got interesting, the radio was full of chatter about how teams were overturning canoes in the rough water and needing rescue. Also race control was advising that the winds were soon going to reduce and change direction. After listening to the problems on the course and the roll call of missing teams (which curiously did not include us) we attempted to call in our position. Unfortunately, this is when we learned that our radio did not have the ability to transmit and would only receive so if we got in trouble out there we were on our own. So after a few hours of sitting by the fire waiting for the weather to change we overheard that a couple of teams we could see on Shewanigan Island were about to attempt to continue the paddle. This was our one chance to get back in contact with the race so we headed over to where they were and joined forces.

Now in league with teams 19 and 21 we worked up along the shores of the big island through a combination of portaging past the rough areas and paddling the calmer sections until Dave found a route to a lake on the island that would take us up to the more sheltered areas of the paddle around Cp5. Fortunately the other teams agreed with his suggestion and we had no more portaging to do but a lot of hard paddling still ahead. Throughout the rest of the afternoon we battled the wind and waves to finally reach the TA at Cp6 at approximately 6:00pm. We had been at Cp4 at 6:15am, which meant that had the problems on the water not happened we most likely would have arrived at the TA by 9:30am. We knew that the lost time would be hard to make up in such a short race but we headed off determined to give it a shot.

Next up was a short bike ride to a bike drop at Cp7. This section went well and we headed off into the trek full of confidence and we were finally starting to warm up. The trekking section consisted of a combination of trails and bushwhacking along side of a series of lakes, which would bring you to Cp8. After following a road to a bridge crossing a river that was flowing into Six Mile Lake we followed a trail that led to the lakeshore. We had decided to follow the lakeshore knowing that it would lead us to the Cp with very little navigation. We were right it was very easy navigating along the lake at night but unfortunately it was very slow going as the lake was ringed by a series of rocky cliffs. After a couple hours of this we were surprised to come across team 18 sleeping on some rocks overlooking the lake. Obviously we were not the only ones to attempt this route. We raced along with them for a while switching back and forth. And here is where the fun stuff started. It was about 3:00am and Cindy was starting to hallucinate (apparently birch bark resembles shopping receipts) and fall asleep on her feet. Always the trooper she forged on like a zombie and with a look on her face that begged for a camera. Also about this time Scott fell into the water while walking along the shoreline (something I was not even aware of until long after the race). After a couple of hours of Cindy sleep walking we reached Cp8 about 7:00am Sunday and took a half hour sleep break by the fire. I managed to stay awake so that we did not sleep too long but in the end that was unnecessary. Soon Dave fell asleep the rest of the team and all the forest creatures within a 5-mile radius were quickly awakened by the extreme snoring (a new sport Dave has invented to ward off bears). From here the rejuvenated team headed off toward Cp9 and the next TA with the sinking feeling that the race was coming to an abbreviated end.

It was increasingly obvious that we were not going to make the cut-off time at the next TA but we pushed on secure in the knowledge that we were one of only 18 teams that managed to complete the entire paddling section on Georgian Bay. The team had shown real tenacity and at times surprising speed. Everyone worked very hard and got along very well for a bunch of strangers that were quickly becoming friends. Once back in the comfort of the TA and under the care of our terrific support crew Scott and Cindy uttered the words every team captain loves to hear when they asked when could we do it again. For the first time ever it looked like Max Payne was a real team that was going stay together, no more desperate searches for teammates. With that we piled in the van for a ride back to Parry Sound and all was quiet except for the sound of Dave babbling incoherently about god knows what thanks to the bubba of beer Chris was feeding him and I at the TA.

Once again I have come to the end of another race realizing that I have many people to thank for helping me go out and have my fun. First Chris and Pam held up the tradition of excellence with their great work as a support crew, without them this would never have been so much fun. Cindy your bright smile and incredibly tough attitude which kept you going through the pain of tendonitis and the chill of hypothermia really shows a strength of character that makes you a joy to compete with always. Scott, what can I say other than you worked your ass of for us (I hope it didn’t take too long to heal). You gave 100 percent and you were always there for your teammates (although that little thing you did in the cabin wasn’t much of a sacrifice!). Dave once again proved that old guys that can navigate are always able to keep up, cause nobody can go faster than the map. Oh by the way guys I know Dave and I tried to get you to stay for the wrap up supper, well you didn’t miss anything cause in my drunken sleep deprived state is was completely unable to operate my watch alarm and we slept through it. Unfortunately we do not have many pictures from this race (especially since we had such a good looking crew, okay at least one of us was) but we will work on it for next time.

Andre Gaudreau
Team Captain